


Innocence

by MelyndaR



Series: My Ingenious Family series [4]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 07:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 16,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3110453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leah Prentiss, a literal genius, has complicated connections to two members of the BAU. Kinda AU. Takes place after "The Bittersweet Science."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully this story will make more sense with the knowledge that it was the first story written in the series.

Emily Prentiss dropped her purse and keys on the table by the door of her apartment. She turned the security system and checked her answering machine for messages. There was one. She pressed to listen to it and took her coat off. The team had just gotten back from a hard case in Philly and she just wanted to hit the sack.

After arresting the un-sub, or unknown subject, Jimmy, Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner, the team leader, had taken the man to the hospital so he could tell his leukemia-stricken son, Ryan, goodbye. The boy had died with his father at his side.

A job like hers didn't do much to put one in the Christmas spirit, eight days away from Christmas or no.

"Emily Prentiss?" An unfamiliar young woman's voice filtered through the machine. "My name is Leah – Leah Prentiss. I'm 26. My birthday is November 11, 1985. I was born in Italy, but I came to the States for college after I graduated from high school.

I – I don't know why I just said all that. Anyway, I think, no, I know, well, I'm your daughter. The one you had at fifteen. Could you please call me, or write me, something?" Leah rattled off a phone number and address from Triangle, Virginia, and the message ended.

Emily, who had slammed down onto her bed in the middle of the message, put her head in her hands, stunned. This was not what she needed to deal with right now. She got up and re-played the message. Twice. The name, date, and places, were all the right ones. She grabbed a notebook, and played the message one more time, writing down the contact information. Then she deleted the message.

Next she called Kevin Lynch and asked him to do a discreet background check on the woman, just to insure that she was in fact her Leah. It was.

Emily hung up and swore as she never had before. She had always wanted this, but Leah's timing stunk.

Right now she needed sleep, not that she would get much, if any, the message had unsettled her so. She would think about this in the morning.

* * *

 

The next day was a Sunday, which was a good thing, because Emily had tossed and turned all night. Sleep had evaded her completely. Finally, at nine a.m., she got up out of bed, a semi-decision made. She would go by Leah's apartment building, see what sort of condition her daughter lived in, and talk to somebody who lived in the same building. Essentially, she would profile her a little; see what she was getting herself into.

But first, Emily, remembering the peace she had felt when in God's house, decided it was high time she darkened the door of a church building again.

Emily hurried to slip out of the Baptist church, later in the morning. No more stalling, it was time to go to Leah's apartment building.

She didn't think she could approach Leah at this point, no matter how much she wanted to. The few people that knew Emily had been pregnant, every last one of them, David Rossi, the only member of her team who knew, included, all thought the baby had been aborted.

Not so.

Emily slid behind the wheel of her car, debating whether or not to call Rossi. Calling her mother was out of the question. Ambassador Prentiss hadn't even known of the pregnancy. Emily's father was dead. For now she would call no one, she decided, pulling into a parking space in front of the apartment building.

She hurried into the building and approached the clerk sitting behind a desk. She quickly flashed her badge and asked to see everything the man had on Leah.

"Just a moment, if you would. Oh," the man said. "There she is now." He pointed to a young woman coming in carrying a grocery bag, her black hair windblown, and her cheeks pink from the cold. "Miss Prentiss?" the clerk heralded her.

She turned to look at him with big, chocolate brown eyes.  _My eyes._  Emily realized with a jolt of shock.

"An FBI agent would like to speak to you. Is everything okay?"

"It's all right, I know her." She gestured for Emily. "Follow me."

Once inside the elevator, Emily leaned back against the wall. This was not how this was supposed to happen.

"You're Emily Prentiss?" Leah asked.

Emily nodded, absently noticing that Leah was fingering the bracelet she wore. "Leah?"

"Yeah."

They stepped off the elevator and Leah walked out. Emily followed. "How long have you been in D.C.?" Emily asked.

"Three days."

"In the States?"

"I came the first time thirteen years ago." Leah said, opening the door to her apartment and going inside.

"I thought you said you came to the States after high school?"

"I did."

"When you were twelve?" Emily was a little incredulous. Absently she thought of Reid, the youngest person on her team. He had and I.Q. of 187, and had graduated high school at that age.

Leah started putting her groceries away. "I was almost thirteen. I moved from Italy to Connecticut. After finishing four years at Yale, I moved to Vegas for a few months. Then my mentor, who I had been living with, got a job and had to move, so I ended up moving back to Italy to teach there. I was there with a teaching Visa for nine years, since I got citizenship to the States when I came to Yale, until I came here. What about you?"

"Well, for the past five and a half years I've lived here near D.C. Before that I was all across the map, with my mother and working for the CIA."

Leah nodded and turned from the kitchenette. "Do you want something to drink? I can make coffee."

She was twirling her bracelet around her wrist now. She wouldn't leave it alone, had touched or twirled it every chance she got since she had first glimpsed her mother.

 _A nervous tick?_ Emily wondered.

"No, I'm fine, thanks."

"Okay." Leah motioned toward the living space. "Why don't we sit?"

Once they had settled there, Emily said, "Nice bracelet."

"Oh, thanks. My college mentor gave it to me my freshman year." She leaned forward so Emily could get a better look at it.

There were three strands to it, two of silver and one of gold, braided together. Four jewel beads, emerald, diamond, ruby, and sapphire, were placed evenly at fixed points of the strands. Emily picked it up to get a closer look at it when Leah handed it to her and felt a nick in the emerald bead.

"I think this bead is cracked." Emily told her.

"Oh, um, that's not cracked. It's Morse code. The emerald has a dash on it, which stands for a T. The diamond has dot-dash-dot on it, or R. The ruby is dot-dot-dash, or U. Sapphire has a dot, E.

T-R-U-E. True."

"Wow." Emily handed the bracelet back to Leah. "She must care a lot about you to have it made for you."

"Who? My mentor? Actually, she's a he. And that's not all the sentiment that's in this piece."

"Oh?" Emily asked glad to have found a safe topic.

"Well, the strands being twisted together is meant to remind me that two are stronger than one. If you look at the order of the beads as a whole, they're green, white, and red. The Italian flag. And white, red, and blue. The U.S. flag. Emeralds," She fingered the green bead. "Stand for increase. The facts that you can go far and still always find room for improvement. Diamonds stand for brilliance. That you're brilliant. Rubies stand for preciousness. The thought being that you have a brilliant mind and that's a gift. He always told me not to hide it. Don't be obnoxious about it; just don't dumb yourself down – ever. It stands for wisdom, too. Sapphire stands for beauty, hardness, and natural excellence. You're beautiful on the inside and outside, no matter what anyone else says. Also, bravery, you can't melt into a puddle of mush every time someone insults you. Build a wall that blocks people like them out. And as for natural excellence, you'll be great whether or not you choose to get an education most people only dream of. You're great on your own. I don't need him to be with me in order to be great, he just helped me realize all of this, helped me to be great in my own way. It's kind of like wearing a pep-talk on my wrist. That sounds bad, I guess, but I'm glad I have it."

"And I'm glad you have someone like him in your life." Emily murmured. "To make up a little for me not being there."

"Had." Leah whispered. "We lost contact when he moved to D.C."

"He's in D.C? If you want, I know someone who could help you find him." Emily said; thinking of the computer hacker turned technical analyst on her team, Penelope Garcia. "What's his name?"

"Oh, well, I don't know. I don't really know why I said any of that, it's kind of private."

"Yes or no?" Emily pressed. She wanted to do something to make her daughter happy, to make up for when she had never been there to raise her.

"Yes?" Leah said, as if she were guessing.

"What's his name?" Emily repeated.

"Reid."

"Hm." Emily mused. "Would you like to meet my team? We don't have a case as of yet, so tomorrow should be a paperwork day. There shouldn't be any objections to you hanging out with us. And if you're gonna want me to hang around you or vice versa, we're pretty much a package deal."

"Oh, okay." Leah swallowed. "Hey, um, Mom?" The title came out as a squeak and she didn't look at Emily as or after she said it.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"It's fine. I like it. You call me whatever makes you comfortable."

"Okay."

"What did you want to ask?" Emily hated to ask, seeing Leah was about to ask for some answers to the big questions, the ones they had danced around since meeting.

"Who- no, I mean, why- how –"

"Let's just take all those one at a time, shall we?" Emily asked, daring to take one of her daughter's hands.

Leah hadn't put her bracelet back on and was shifting it around in her free hand. She nodded her head.

"Who. Who was your dad, you mean?"

Again Leah nodded.

"We met just after my mother and I moved to Italy…"

* * *

 

"Are you ready?" Emily asked Leah the next morning as her daughter climbed into the passenger seat of her car.

"Yeah."

They had covered a lot of ground yesterday, and Leah, choosing logic over emotion, had been very understanding. Emily thought they just might have made peace.

Emily nodded toward the radio as she pulled out of the parking lot. "You can turn it on if you want. Turn it to what you like."

Leah complied and soon "Hey Daddy" by Billy Ray Cyrus from the CD of his Emily had was heard.

 _Yeah you know_  
Time sure does fly by  
It just goes on and on and on  
One day you look up  
Its all gone  
Tomorrow's yesterday

 _Once there was this working man_  
Never standing still  
Always with his nose to the ground stone  
One day his little girl asked  
Just as he walked past  
She called out "are you leaving home?"

 _Hey Daddy why you always gone away?_  
Hey Daddy, can't you stick around and play?  
Can't you see I'm growing fast?  
This time here will never last  
Hey Daddy, think of me today

 _Funny how times seems to change_  
How they rearrange  
So quick and yet so true  
That little girl is a mama now  
She grew up somehow  
Left an old man feeling blue  
he heard her say

 _Hey Daddy why you always gone away?_  
Hey Daddy can't you stick around and play?  
Can't you see I'm growing fast?  
This time here will never last  
Hey Daddy, think of me today  
Hey Daddy, think of me today

Emily hated the tears that stung in her eyes. But that song was over and the next song started.

 _You tuck me in,_  
Turn out the light  
kept me safe and sound at night  
little girls depend on things like that

 _Brush my teeth and combed my hair_  
had to drive me everywhere  
you were always there when I looked back

 _You had to do it all alone_  
Make a live, make a home  
Must have been as hard as it could be

 _And when I couldn't sleep at night_  
Scare things wouldn't turn out right  
you would hold my hand and sing to me

 _Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you'll be_  
can't go far but you can always dream  
Wish you may and wish you might  
don't you worry hold on tight.  
I promise you there will come a day  
Butterfly Fly Away  
Butterfly Fly Away (butterfly fly away)

 _Catch your wing now you can't stay_  
Take those dreams and make them all come true  
Butterfly Fly Away (butterfly fly away)  
We been waiting for this day  
All along and know just what to do  
Butterfly, Butterfly, Butterfly,  
Butterfly Fly Away

Leah was blinking back tears now, too. She reached over and turned the radio off. Emily chuckled. "Misery likes company, I guess." Emily said.

Leah nodded and smiled. Emily got out of the car, having arrived at their destination, and led her daughter to the bull pen where everyone but Reid was all ready working on paperwork, as Emily had predicted.

"Hey, guys." Emily stood in the middle of her team's section and said.

"Who's the cutie?" Derek Morgan asked, gesturing toward Leah.

"My daughter." Emily put a protective arm around Leah.

"My mistake." Derek said, taking a step back, hands up as if in surrender. "But are you sure she's your daughter? How many years older than her are you?"

"Don't you know not to ask a woman her age?" Jennifer Jareau, or JJ, asked, ribbing Morgan.

"I'm guessing…" Aaron Hotchner, Hotch, started.

"She's fifteen years younger." David Rossi said, interrupting them all.

Awkward silence settled over them all for a second before Leah broke it. "Hi, everybody I'm…"

"Sorry I'm late, Hotch. Traffic was backed up." Emily heard Dr. Spencer Reid say as he came into the bullpen.


	2. Chapter 2

Leah spun around to see a familiar face hurrying toward her. "Spencer!" she shrieked, diving to hug him. Spencer was flung back against a wall by the force of Leah's hug.

"Leah?" Reid gasped, prying Leah off of him. He left his hands on her shoulders, staring into her face. "Geez, you've changed."

"Wait a second." Emily interjected. "You two know each other?"

"Spence was my college mentor I told you about." Leah said, turning to face Emily.

"Hold on." Reid stopped Leah, depriving her of the priceless look on her mother's face. "You know Prentiss?"

Leah nodded up at Spencer. Everyone started talking at once. Hotch put his lip between his teeth and let loose a piercing whistle. "Everyone. Briefing room. Now." He commanded.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm apologizing now because, as you've seen, some of these chapters are ridiculously short. That's because I wrote this around three years ago, and I would like to think that my writing's improved since then.

Emily felt herself shrink a little. She was going to get it big time from Hotch and Rossi. Rossi didn't worry her horribly, he would understand once she explained the situation clearer. Aaron though… Emily cursed and kicked herself mentally all the way to the briefing room.

All of them obediently followed Hotch and settled into chairs around the round table.


	4. Chapter 4

Leah settled between Spencer and her mother. She leaned over and whispered in her ear, "You okay?"

Emily nodded.

"Okay." Hotch stood up. "You're Leah, right?"

Leah nodded. "Leah Prentiss, Emily's daughter." She noticed Spencer's jaw was aiming for the floor. The muscles near Hotch's jaw clenched. His hands clutched the table. Leah fingered the sapphire bead on her bracelet.  _Bravery._ He was getting upset. He frightened her a little that way. And she was more than a little afraid of hurting her mom's reputation. These people hadn't known she existed before she walked in the room. Well, maybe the older guy with the beard had, but no one else.

"I can explain." Emily seemed to be imploring her team for understanding.

Hotch ignored her. "First of all, I'm Aaron Hotchner. This…" he gestured to the other older man.

"David Rossi." Rossi said.

"Roman origins." Leah observed. "Are you Italian?"

"Yes." Rossi was pleasantly surprised.

"I'm Derek Morgan." The African-American said. "And, uh, sorry about – in the bullpen."

"It's fine. I can guarantee you I'm not your type, anyway."

"He was hitting on you?" Spencer asked. Leah caught a change in his tone from the big brother one she would expect to something a little more protective. Hm… Her mother caught it as well. Spencer looked away towards his hands. Leah moved on to the ruby bead.  _Wisdom._ She smiled at Spencer, trying to convey that Morgan's action was no big deal.

The blonde introduced herself next. "I'm Jennifer Jareau. You can call me JJ."

"Are you French by chance, JJ?" Leah asked.

"No, but my boyfriend's from Louisiana. Does that count?"

Leah smiled and shrugged.

"So, Leah, where are you from?" JJ asked.

"I was born in Italy and have lived there most of my life. I spent a few years in New Haven, Connecticut, and a few months in Virginia. I just moved here from Italy the second time."

"So, where are you a citizen?" Hotch asked.

_Are you trying to get rid of me?_  Her hand slid back to the sapphire bead. "I switched to the States in nint- when I came to col- Connecticut."

Spencer gave her a hard glare. Guilty, her hand slid back to the ruby bead.  _Don't hide it._ Spencer looked at her wrist then, seeing the bracelet. He smiled, motioning to it. "You're wearing it."

"I never leave home without it."

"Your bracelet?" JJ asked.

"It's a pep talk, sorta." Leah explained.

"How so?" JJ inquired.

So Leah went on to explain the significance of all of it. She explained the Morse code message lastly.

"True to what?" JJ asked.

"To your country, yourself, and those around you."

Leah thought she heard Rossi snort. She knew she heard a soft growl from Hotchner. Emily and Spencer both shrank in their seats. Leah clutched the sapphire bead.

JJ cleared her throat, as if trying to clear the air. "Who gave you the bracelet?"

Spencer groaned and slid further down in his seat.

"He did." Leah nodded toward Spencer.

"For all your bumbling, how can you be that poetic?" Morgan asked.

"Children exposed to classical things, like music or literature, have a higher aesthetic sense then do other children. The fact that your mother is or was a 15th century literature professor means you probably got an earful of it as a child. Heightening the aesthetic sense as a child would mean that it would still be heightened in adulthood." As soon as she said it, Leah put her hand to her forehead groaning, but burst out laughing in the end. The look on Morgan's face was priceless.

"Outside the fact that I didn't understand half of what you just said, I have two questions. One: are you saying his mom turned him into a sissy?" He asked.

"No. He's not a sissy. He's actually been a pretty good body guard in the past." It was Morgan's turn to snort.

"Leah." Spencer murmured the warning under his breath.

"Okay, question number two: What kind of an I.Q. do you have? I mean, you totally just had a Reid moment." His voice went up an octave.

Leah laughed out loud.

"You just remember, Miss," Spencer told her pretending to be on the defense. "This is my turf."

Leah's hand slid to the diamond bead, to brilliance. "I was in college the last time someone said that to me, about the Reid moment. Well, I do have an eidetic memory. I can read 20, 001 words per minute."

"Are you serious?" Emily asked.

"As a heart-attack."

"But that beats Reid!" Rossi exclaimed.

"Indeed it does." Leah replied. She let go of her bracelet and favored Rossi with a cocky smile.

"But what about your I.Q.?" Morgan repeated.

"188." Leah replied.

"Oh, ho!" Morgan leaned back in his chair. "You're one short, Pretty Boy, on all counts."

Spencer shrugged. "I – uh. Um, oh well, I guess." Leah's smile had unnerved him a little, and the fact that it had unnerved him a lot.

"What goes on my peoples?" A big, brightly dressed blonde asked, sailing into the room. "Who's the new kid? HI, my name's Penelope Garcia-Lynch. What's your name? Are you a new member of the team?"

"My name is Leah Prentiss. I'm Emily's daughter, and I am not a part of this team. Yet."

"You have a daughter?" Penelope gasped at Emily.

Emily nodded.

"Oh my. Well then, welcome to the family, Leah was it?"

Leah nodded.

"Leah Prentiss. Where do I know that name?" She began tapping on the tablet she held in her hand. "You're on one of those CIA lists, aren't you?"

"What!" Emily and Spencer said together. "Which one?"

"The hacker list that my name graces. People used to say I was one of the PGs. Perhaps you are the P to my G?"

"Most likely. I am an excellent hacker. I don't use it much though, any more."

"Wait a sec," Penelope said, coming over and leaning down to whisper in Leah's ear, "Are you the dweeb who hacked into Emily's files a couple months ago?"

Leah grinned hopefully up at her. "Our secret?"

"Just don't do it again."

"I'll ask Mom or somebody next time." Leah agreed.

"Thanks. Em would hurt somebody if the powers that be forced you to take a job here."

Leah opened her mouth to say that she not only wanted but was qualified for, a job in the BAU but was cut off by Emily and Spencer.

"Leah!" they were both aghast.

"It's not my fault she's good at what she does." Leah whined.

"Aw aren't you sweet." Penelope purred.

Spencer choked on the coffee he'd been in the middle of drinking.

"What! I am." Leah defended herself.

Spencer gave her an "I know better" look over the rim of his mug.

"Okay guys," Penelope said. "You'll never ever guess who got a job in crimes against children. Like, I just passed this person on their way to their team."

"Lila Archer." Morgan guessed the name of a young actress, elbowing Reid.

Leah felt her own jaw clench.  _Hold on, this is Spencer. He's like a brother to you. Isn't he?_

Morgan and Hotch both gave her odd looks. Her mother looked genuinely puzzled. She wouldn't know about Spencer and Lila's kisses while in a pool in LA while Lila was being stalked.

Leah turned away, toward Penelope, and spotted a long, dark hair on the woman's shoulder. "This person, is it a woman?"

"Yeah. What are you, a profiler?"

"I've received all the off the job training I can for it. FBI training included, here in Quantico."

Emily and Spencer both looked ready to light into her, so she added "And  _I_ passed my gun qualifications on the first try" in a childish tone.

Spencer rolleded his eyes at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed.

"Real mature you two." JJ said.

Morgan laughed. "It's about time someone got you to loosen up, though, Pretty Boy."

"Do you always pick on him, or is it everybody in general?"

Morgan shrugged. "He's the easiest target. And when did you have time to come to Quantico?"

"I worked twelve hour days when I finished at Yale while I was supposedly living in Vegas. Spencer and I went through it together."

"You told me you were taking that for self-defense reasons." Spencer objected.

"FBI training for self-defense? Come on. You actually believed that?"

"Yeah, cause I trust you."

"Well, at least I know you weren't shacking with your boyfriend in Vegas." Emily said dryly.

"I told you who I was living with!" Leah objected.

"I know what you told me," She slid into Russian, a language only she, Spencer, and Leah would understand. " _But I also know what the look your getting means_."

" _I'm not getting any sort of look_." Leah objected, not daring to look over at Spencer, sitting so close she could smell his cologne. She knew he was probably willing the floor to swallow him.

"Hello?" Penelope interjected. "The woman I just walked by? Anyone interested in hearing about that?"

"Yes." Leah nodded.

"We're listening, Garcia." Spencer agreed.

Emily laughed, Morgan smiled, but everyone turned to Garcia, as she was called.

"So it's a woman." Hotch mused.

"Dark haired." Leah said.

"Okay, how do you know all that?" Garcia asked. "Is she standing behind me or something?"

"Nope." Leah leaned over and pulled the strand of hair off Garcia's yellow top and held it up for all to see.

"You got all that out of a hair?" Garcia asked, a little incredulous.

"How do you know it's a woman's and not Reid's or something?" Morgan asked.

"Three reasons: it's too long, too red, and too wavy."

"Uh-huh." He answered. "Okay, I'm impressed."

"Me, too.' A woman said from the doorway.

As one, Morgan, JJ, and Spencer sprung for the auburn-haired woman.

"El!" JJ squealed, wrapping her in a hug.

Garcia whipped out a camera and started taking pictures of the scene unfolding. Morgan practically tackled the woman, El, and JJ had to steady her before El turned and hugged Morgan fiercely. El was wrapping a suddenly awkward Spencer in a hug when Hotch slid his tablet in front of Leah and, making sure no one was watching, ordered quietly, "Look up SA Elle Greenaway."

Leah went directly to the agent's profile. "What do you want to know?"

"Does she have a record?"

"Clean as a whistle

"Thank you." He took his tablet back.

"Sure."

"You did not just use her computer skills," Garcia pointed accusingly to Leah while looking at Hotch. "With me in the room, did you?"

"I did. The way you think of each other affects the way you work together."

"I don't get it." Garcia said.

"Then just trust me on this." Hotch replied. "Besides, when you're off work, I need to know if she can do your job."

"Who says I'm taking off?"

"Bureau policy." JJ said.

Garcia glared. "I'm going back to my lair now." She hurried away.

"Lair?" Leah inquired of no one in particular.

"The Computer room." Emily explained. "And since when must we take days off?"

"Only if you're pregnant." JJ replied.

"Garcia, really?" Emily gasped.

"Her and Kevin are gonna be parents within a month." JJ smiled. "Where have you been to not notice, profiler?"

"November's a bad month for me. Then there are the holidays. Who doesn't gain a little weight this time of year?"

"Okay," Greenaway said. "The reason I was sent down here, you guys, is because Kevin handed in his resignation. I'm in charge of finding someone else to take his place, preferably someone from Garcia's list. So what do you say Prentiss?" Greenaway looked at Leah. "He's not leaving crimes against children 'til Garcia comes back here after her leave. Garcia won't be leaving for another two weeks, so you'll have plenty of time to settle in, enjoy the holiday, and train with her first."

"The FBI does too much recruiting for this to be able to be turned down," Leah observed. "So I might as well say yes."

"Good. Let's take you to see Katie. SSA Katie Cole is our supervising agent. You'll like her."

 


	5. Chapter 5

Emily put her head in her hands as Agent Greenaway whisked Leah away. "That did not just happen."

"It did." Reid huffed, slouching low in his chair.

Emily began to curse in Spanish, a twisted homage to Greenaway's Cuban heritage.


	6. Chapter 6

Three hours and many phone calls later, Leah and Katie stepped out of Katie's office and took the steps down to the main bullpen of CAC together.

"Hey, everybody," Katie called out. "Can I have your attention?"

Four agents turned from their desks to look towards Katie as Greenaway appeared with a man, presumably Kevin.

"I just wanted to introduce Leah Prentiss to you all. She'll be our new tech analyst once Kevin leaves us."

"Hi." Leah smiled, fingering the sapphire bead.

"This is my right-hand man," Katie gestured toward a man in his late fifties. "SSA Jason Gideon."

"Hello. You said Prentiss. Any relation to Emily Prentiss?"

"Her daughter. " Leah answered.

"This is SA Brian Anderson." Katie nodded toward a man who was in his early thirties.

"Howdy."

"Next is SA Ashley Seaver." Katie indicated a slight blonde, also in her early thirties.

"Nice to meet you."

"And Special Agent Jordan Todd." She pointed towards a pretty African-American.

"Welcome to the BAU."

"This is Kevin Lynch." She turned to the man beside Greenaway. "He's our present tech, if you hadn't guessed." Leah nodded. "And you've all ready met Agent Greenaway. How'd seeing the other team go by the way?" Katie asked Greenaway.

"Garcia, JJ, Morgan, and Reid were ecstatic. As ecstatic as Reid can be, I guess. Prentiss and Rossi didn't know me from Adam. As for Hotch, I'm pretty sure he had Prentiss here, hack into my files."

Leah blushed. "Sorry about that."

Greenaway waved it aside. "I expected it."

In the middle of this exchange, Leah thought she heard Anderson murmur something to Gideon about "another woman".

Seaver apparently heard it, too, because she swiveled in her chair to face him, accusing, "Male chauvinist."

"I'm no such thing!" Anderson objected.

"Okay, you two, enough." Todd interjected, employing a mothering tone. "A good and bad thing about being a media liaison," She said to Leah. "Is ruining people's fun with a case." She held up a file to indicate it was time to get down to business.

"All right." Katie said. She looked at Leah. "Can you find your way back to Agent Hotchner's team?"

"Eidetic memory, remember?"

"Really?" Seaver asked. "What's your I.Q.?"

"188."

"How quickly can you read?" Todd inquired.

"20,001 wpm."

"Did you aim to get just over Dr. Reid?" Gideon asked.

Leah gave him a cocky grin. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. 'Bye, guys. See you in April." Leah turned on her heel and headed back the way she had came, excited for working at the BAU.

When she came back to the other bullpen everyone was in the conference room in the middle of discussing a case.

"Come in." Hotchner answered when she knocked. "We were just getting started. You can sit in if you like."

"Did you get the job?" Emily asked.

"What job?" Garcia asked from where she stood, ready to present the case.

"Yours while you're gone," Leah replied. "And Kevin's once he quits."

"Did no one hear me say, and I quote, 'Em would hurt somebody if the powers that be forced you to take a job here'?"

"Greenaway didn't." Leah pointed out. "And yes, I did get the job. And guess what? You get to take a break and 'train' me."

"You sound excited about working here." Rossi observed.

"I am. So what's the case?"

The next day, Tuesday, found Leah taking over Garcia's lair to see how she'd handle it, with Garcia co-piloting. Having left that morning, the team was on their way to Kansas in the jet, to track a kidnapper.

"Hey, Leah?"

"Yeah?"

"Some of the stuff you'll be messing with is pretty gross. If I were you, I'd do what I do: Joke around with them. Maybe target one of them to tease, nicely, mind you. Otherwise you'll find yourself dreading their calls. Personally, I target Morgan, so pick somebody else, he's  _my_  chocolate god."

"Okay." Leah laughed.

"When you're on the video feed, look at them real quick. See who needs cheering up the most and mess around with them. It helps them, and that'll put you in a better mood, too."

"Hm." Leah leaned back in her chair, her hands folded, deep in thought. "Do I have your permission to freak Spencer out a little?"

"How so? Do tell."

"Ventriloquism."

Garcia's brow knit together.

"The way you talk to Morgan has a sensual innuendo, right?"

Garcia nodded, but Leah had no time to expound upon her intentions as a phone call came in then.

Spencer. Leah smiled deviously as she answered the phone on speakerphone, and said in a perfect imitation of Garcia, "Speak, hunky hot stuff."

Garcia gagged back a howl of laughter as Spencer said, "Huh?"

Morgan gasped, "Baby girl, you wound me!", and Leah realized she was on speaker phone. She giggled, careful to keep up the ventriloquism.

"But you did manage to make Pretty Boy speechless." Morgan said, sounding amused.

Hotch spoke next. "We need a list of all the children kidnapped in Topeka under the age of two,  _Garcia._ "

Leah realized that he must know it was her on the other end of the line. Someone, it sounded like Emily, was barely holding back laughter.

"Anything for you, oh Captain, my captain." Leah said, starting in on the computer in front of her. "Does the magnificent, marvelous, and ever so handsome Dr. Reid have a window of time for me?"

"Um, none of the victims would be over seventeen now." Spencer stammered.

"Oh, kay. This is a way bigger list then it should be, so it'll take me a minute to get it to you, oh magical wizard of knowledge."

"Garcia," Spencer hesitated. "Are you, you know, drunk or something?"

"Why ever would you think that, my wonderful god of wisdom?" Leah was having a ball, and was on a roll besides.

"Uh, this is stuff you reserve for Morgan. Why me?"

"Because I think that you are ab-so-lute-ly perrrrfect for me, Dr." Seeing the real Garcia was about to burst, Leah swiveled so she could turn on the sound of the video feed, one way and without the video, and said, "Garcia out." She hung up, and Garcia started practically rolling on the floor.

"Hush." Leah admonished. "I want to hear."

Garcia complied almost instantly, in time to hear Reid say, "She  _has_  to be on steroids."

"I don't know," Emily said. "She seemed pretty in to you."

"She knows." Leah whispered.

"But – but it's Garcia." Spencer contradicted. "She's MARRIED for pity's sake!"

Leah burst out laughing and turned off the feed.

Ten minutes later, Leah had compiled the requested list and called Spencer to tell them she had sent it.

"Your missing persons list is on its way, oh genius one." She informed him.

"Thank you, Garcia, my Aphrodite." He replied.

Leah and Garcia both stared at the phone, open-mouthed and bug-eyed.  _He just called me the goddess of love! And beauty!_

"Look up." Spencer advised.

Both looked to the computer screen mounted on the wall above them. The video feed was on and Spencer was smiling down on them.

"It was all her." Garcia said, pointing toward Leah. "I have a home husband and a team husband and I am happy where I am, thank you very much."

Spencer laughed. "I know. You were an accessory to the crime, though."

"She was all ready doing it before I could stop her!" Garcia whined.

"And you were trying so hard to do so?"

"Weeeell, maybe not."

"Maybe not."

Garcia shrugged.

"Bye. Hey, thanks for the compliments, by the way, Leah. Try them as yourself next time." He turned off the feed.

Leah sat back. "He called me beautiful." She murmured under her breath, awestruck. "No one has ever done that before."

"Oh, Honey." Garcia cackled. "You are so going to fit into this team."


	7. Chapter 7

Emily looked over at Rossi, watching as he maneuvered the snowy streets of a Topeka December. The two of them were going to interview one of the victim's families.

"I'm sorry," she blurted into the silence. "That I lied to you about Leah."

"It's all ready forgiven. But why lie in the first place?"

"It's what I told anyone who found out that I had been pregnant. I always said I'd had an abortion, it was easier that way. When I was telling you, by the time my brain caught up with my mouth, I just couldn't admit that she was still out there somewhere, not to anyone else, and not to myself. I'm really sorry."

"I forgive you." He said simply.

"Thank you."

They pulled into the family's driveway, and the conversation ended.

Now if she could just find a minute alone with Aaron.


	8. Chapter 8

It was Christmas Eve, and the team was flying back home from Kansas. Garcia and Leah were on the phone with Rossi.

"I don't know if I'm going to be able to pull off a Christmas party this year." Rossi was saying. "The house isn't decorated; I've got nothing to eat. We may have to pass this time."

"Don't worry," Garcia said. "We've got it covered. Will, Jack, Henry, and you're ever lovable techs have worked like mad people and Leah's apartment is just screaming 'Christmas party'."

"So Leah's coming then, right?"

"Right." Garcia answered.

"The food?" The Italian was afraid to ask.

"Don't worry," Leah repeated. "I've got it under control."

"But remember, you can't make the pasta sauce until that night."

"I know, Rossi, I've got it all under control."

"You're sure? Remember we Italians are very picky about our food."

"Understatement!" Emily called out from the opposite side of the plane. Rossi rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm sure. I lived in Italy for twenty-two years, I was born there. Trust. In. Me. Rest, relax, let someone else worry about the party."

Rossi took a deep breath. "I trust you."

"Good."

"But remember the oregano has to be just right, not too-"

" _Arrivederci_ , Rossi." Leah laughed and hung up.

Rossi looked in dismay at the phone. The rest of the team laughed at him. "The party is at Leah's apartment." Rossi informed them. "She did say she moved to a bigger one?"

Emily nodded. "In Reid's apartment building."

"Man," Morgan asked Reid. "You sure she ain't stalking you?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Positive." Reid looked down at his book, thinking of Lyle Kensington, a man who had stalked and tried to attack Leah while she was a freshman in college, just thirteen years old. No one but Reid knew of the attack, as he'd somehow managed to fight off Kensington. She'd sworn off men that night as she watched the resident nurse bandage Reid's hands where Kensington had cut him with the knife he'd held against Leah's throat. The next night Reid had given her the bracelet she always wore.

Morgan chuckled, not noticing that Reid's thoughts were a thousand miles away from where they flew over St. Louis, Missouri, a thousand fifty, to be exact.


	10. Chapter 10

Aaron kept his eyes on the consult file in front of him when Emily slid into the seat across from him. He knew she wanted to talk about Leah, which they had yet to address from the viewpoint of a couple.

"Aaron, look at me." She requested.

He complied, putting his "Agent" face on. He wasn't done being angry with her yet.

"I should have told you before." She stated the obvious.

"Yes." He closed the file, giving her his undivided attention.

"I'm so, so sorry I didn't. I don't know why I didn't. It just didn't seem important and I didn't want you to think less of me. I'm sorry."

He sighed. He wasn't an unreasonable man and he knew there had been many extenuating circumstances that had led to her making the decision that she had.

"I would never thing less of you, Em. I love you. That's not going to change. It just makes me wonder if I can trust you, and that scares me."

"I know." She murmured, looking full of self-loathing.

"So I'm angry and a little scared, but I am NOT second-guessing our relationship."

"Promise?"

"I promise." He leaned across the table and sealed it with a kiss.

Leaning back, he realized he wasn't angry any more.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning, Spencer slid into a church pew behind Leah and Prentiss. He'd only been to church twice in his life, and he wasn't comfortable in his present surroundings. However, Leah's powers of persuasion were above what he remembered. Besides, it was a good chance to spend an hour with her by his side.

The song leader directed them to a song, and while Spencer and Prentiss both had to use hymnals, Leah only stood there, singing. As Spencer listened to her sing, his breath caught momentarily. She had been a good singer when she was younger, but there was something about the hymn and the look in her eyes, it was positively angelic now.

He was too caught up in these thoughts to pay much attention to Pastor Down's message.

How she had changed!


	12. Chapter 12

That night, Leah stood in the kitchen of her spacious apartment and checked over her list, making sure everything was done, especially the food. She wasn't obsessive, like Rossi could be, but she felt she had a point to prove to him.

Someone knocked on the door. "Door's open!" Leah called out.

David Rossi stood in the doorway, arms full of Christmas presents. "Just thought I'd come a little early, see if you have everything under control. If you need any help, I mean."

"You can't do it, can you?" She asked. "You can't just relax."

"Yes, I can."

"Then put those presents under the tree in the living room and come sit." Leah pointed with her pen to one of the barstools.

He complied, looking over the food with hawk eyes. He reached for one of the ravioli.

"Don't touch." Leah ordered, slapping his hand away. "If you need something to do, get plates out of that cabinet."

He smiled and did as asked. "See, I knew you needed my help."

Leah laughed and went to answer the door when someone else knocked.

Spencer stood on the other side. "Hi. Am I early?"

"Only a little. Come on in, Rossi's all ready here."

Spencer stepped over the threshold. From his place in the doorway Rossi cleared his throat, shooting an amused gaze above Spencer and Leah's heads. Leah swore as Spencer looked up to see why.


	13. Chapter 13

Spencer saw mistletoe

"Come on, Rossi." Spencer heard the thread of fear in Leah's voice.

"Ah, ah, ah. Rules are rules. If you want you could wait until the rest of the team is here, though. If you want."

Spencer thought of Prentiss and gulped. There were so many reasons he shouldn't do this. To look in Leah's eyes, she looked thoroughly terrified. "It's just stupid mistletoe, Rossi." He muttered.

"Wait then, but don't think I'll forget."

Rossi turned and went back to the kitchen and Spencer put his hand on Leah's shoulder. She was shaking.

"He's not gonna forget, is he?" Leah asked, looking at the floor.

Spencer shook his head. "I'm not Kensington, Leah." He said, knowing that's what she was thinking of. "I won't hurt you."

Leah laughed, trying to shake it off. "I told Penelope not to put it there."

"If it makes you feel any better, Prentiss will probably hurt me afterward."

Leah laughed. "Nope, doesn't help."

"What doesn't help?" Emily asked from the doorway.


	14. Chapter 14

Leah smiled despite herself as Spencer jumped, somehow managing to put a yard's worth of space between the two of them in an instant.

"Spencer getting beat up."

"Who's beating Reid up?" Hotch asked from behind Emily.

"Who hasn't beat Spencer up?" Leah asked. "Come on in."

Jack, Hotchner's son, squeezed past Emily and ran inside. Hotch and Emily came inside together. "Stop." Jack ordered.

"What is it?" Hotch asked.

Jack pointed. Again with the mistletoe.

Penelope laughed where she stood in the entryway with Kevin. She gave him a quick kiss and they came in. "Go on, you two." She ordered Hotch and Emily.

Hotch smiled and Leah watched carefully as he kissed her mother. Penelope had confirmed her suspicions and told her that the two were "probably" dating behind the BAU's back.

"Hotch!" JJ gasped as she came in with her boyfriend, Will LaMontagne, and son, Henry.

"What?" Hotchner feigned innocence. "There's mistletoe."

"Very convenient, huh?" Will said, kissing JJ. JJ laughed at him.

Leah felt her stomach flop. She wanted out of the room, away from impending doom. She wandered into the kitchen, put on an apron that said "KISS THE COOK" (why on earth had she bought that one?), and started to make the pasta sauce. Everyone but Leah soon settled in the living room, which was adjacent, and open, to the kitchen, and began to talk, excepting Rossi, who sat there muttering, " _Attento. Cosa stavo pensando, lasciando ad una cameriera italiana lattiero-caseari_?"

Leah smirked at him. "Then perhaps the laird ought to come show the humble dairymaid how to do it properly?"

"What'd you call me?"

"You called me a dairymaid, which makes me think of Scotland, don't ask why, I don't know. Lairds were and are wealthy land-owners and –lords in Scotland. Do you wanna help?"She held the spoon she'd been stirring with out to him.

"I thought you'd never ask." He came into the kitchen and looked at the sauce for a second. "Maybe I was wrong, this looks great. Keep up the good work."

"Did I just hear Rossi tell you you're a great cook?" Morgan asked as Rossi walked off to talk to Hotch.

"You did."

"Girl, you must be good. He's never told anybody that as long as I've known him."

Leah grinned. "We Italians are very picky about our food."

Morgan laughed.

"Okay guys," Leah called out. "Dinner's ready!"


	15. Chapter 15

"Garcia could you come here?" Rossi asked as everyone swarmed for the dining room.

Penelope wove through the traffic to reach Dave. "What is it?" she asked.

"Reid and Leah got caught under the mistletoe," Penelope squealed and clapped. That was exactly what she had been hoping for. "But they refused to follow tradition. Remind me to remind them that they have to pay up before we all leave, okay?"

"Gladly." Penelope grinned and looked towards the two who were standing together in the kitchen. Reid had his arm around Leah's shoulders: a brotherly action, or something more? She looked up at him and him down at her. He mouthed something (It'll be okay?), and she nodded.

"Hey, Hotch?" Leah asked. "Could you lead us in a word of prayer before we eat?"

"Sure." Hotch slid an arm around Emily's shoulders and laid the other on Jack's. The same thing Reid was doing with Leah, Penelope noticed.

Penelope felt Kevin slide his arm around her waist as she bowed her head. The baby boy inside her kicked, and despite the pain, she smiled, her whole family was gathered around and it was feeling a lot like Christmas.


	16. Chapter 16

Spencer came into the living room with Leah and JJ at his side. They had just finished the last of the cleanup and Henry and Jack were impatiently waiting to open gifts. JJ folded herself onto the floor beside Will, laying her head in the curve of his neck. Henry hurried over to sit in her lap. Garcia and Kevin were sitting on the couch, and Garcia was letting a delighted Kevin feel one of their baby's many kicks. Morgan was sprawled across the floor playing a video game with Jack while Hotch and Prentiss cheered them on. Anyone of the scenes belonged on a Christmas card, each of them made Spencer wish for a family: something he'd all but given up on having.

Rossi was sitting in a recliner smiling - at Spencer and Leah. "Sit down Uncle Spence, so we can open presents." Henry ordered, coming over to tug on Spencer's hand.

"Yeah, guys." Rossi said, gesturing toward the empty love seat, the only unoccupied space. "We saved one of the best seats in the house for you two."

Spencer didn't move, Leah had all ready had enough tonight, until Leah tugged on his hand. "Come on, Uncle Spence, it's okay. What are we gonna do with my mother in the room?"

"I wonder?" Garcia said, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Her condition is making her a  _beznadezhnyi_ _̆_ _romantik_." Leah said partly in Russian.

"What's 'I wonder' got to do with being a hopeless romantic?" Prentiss asked as Spencer and Leah made their way to the loveseat.

"Nothing." Leah said, sitting down beside Spencer. "To the gifts!"

After the gifts were all opened, Henry was about ready to pass out on JJ's lap, and Jack was nodding off from his station in Hotchner's lap. Prentiss yawned.

"You look like you could use something to perk you up." Garcia said mischievously.

"Yeah."

Spencer felt Leah stiffen beside him. He jumped up, glad to have a reasonable excuse to procrastinate scaring or hurting her, or both. "I really ought to call my mom before it gets too late." He headed for the door. Leah followed him, grabbing his arm just as he stepped over the threshold. "Let's just get this over with." She murmured low enough so only he could hear.

"Leah," Garcia spoke up. "I hate to say it, but you did it again." Looking up, Spencer saw that they were under the mistletoe, again.

"Again?" Prentiss looked very awake now.

"Except they haven't even kissed for the first time yet." Garcia filled everyone in. "So now they have to do it twice, right?"

"Right." Morgan said.

Spencer turned to Leah. Fear was plain in her eyes, though her hair hid the fact from everyone but him, and he hated Kensington all over again to putting it there. He leaned down and touched his lips to hers ever so gently, resting his hands on her shoulders, feeling the tension slowly leave her shoulders. Then she kissed him back.

He leaned back, his usually very compartmentalized feelings in a jumble. His confusion was reflected in Leah's eyes.  _Wow, that was…nice._

"Not that I'm keeping track, you guys," Morgan said. "But that was only one kiss."

"Well, that was so I could come back inside." Spencer said, taking an exaggerated step back over the doorjamb, marveling that his voice could be so steady.

Again, he leaned down and kissed her, longer this time. She waited until he leaned away again and took a step back.

He was unprepared and caught totally off guard when she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him again, quickly.

"What was that for?" He asked, face blazing.

"Because I could." She smiled up at him, a smile that made him forget everyone else in the room. The look on her face was one that he didn't remember seeing before – freedom. He knew that in that moment she had decided to forget Kensington and everything he had done, or almost done, and live her life. And in that kiss she had asked him to do the same, he realized. "Merry Christmas, Spencer."

"Merry Christmas." He whispered, caressing her cheek with one hand. The other traced the path on her neck that Kensington's knife had taken so many years ago. It had barely cut into her skin, meant only to scare her into giving the beast what he'd wanted. Spencer had intervened before he'd gotten it, thank God.

He stepped back then, breaking the spell, suddenly aware of how closely Prentiss was watching them. He forced himself to breathe normally as he remembered their surroundings and all the people watching them.

Leah cleared her throat. "It's getting late. Call your mom. She'll want to hear from you."

There were so many things left unsaid that he wanted to say, but now was neither the time nor the place for it. So he nodded and left the apartment. He kept on walking, down the stairs, all three flights, and out the door, into the cold that was hovering around freezing, still walking. He didn't have a jacket, but he didn't care.

He was so confused. She was Leah. The teen he had learned to love as a sister. But after seeing her again after nine years, having seen the ways she'd changed, matured, what he felt had decidedly nothing to do with a brother-sister relationship.  _I am in way over my head._  And all with a kiss. Or two. Or three.

Spencer slid onto a park bench, he hadn't even realized that was where he was going, as what he had done hit him with full force. Aside from the impulsive moments with Lila Archer almost six years ago he'd never kissed a woman, ever. Sheesh, not even his own mom had kissed him.

Spencer looked skyward. "Please," He implored who- or what- ever might be up there. "Help me."

He waited for a couple minutes. Nothing happened, no bright lights from the sky, no flash of insight. He sighed and dug his cellphone out of his pocket. He might as well stick to his ruse.

Two hours later, he was tired of walking around town and just plain tired, not to mention freezing. Time to face the music. He turned back toward his apartment building. This was not how his Christmas was supposed to turn out.


	17. Chapter 17

Leah heard a knock on the door and turned to look at the clock. It was eleven and she had just finished cleaning the apartment. She looked through the peephole before opening the door. "Geez, Spencer, it's late. You're freezing! Have you been outside all this time? Come in. I'll make cocoa."

Spencer nodded and came in. His teeth were chattering. It had started snowing when he had started back and he was soaked to the skin. Leah guided him to the recliner and told him to sit. She propped up the footrest and pulled his shoes off. "Who wears Converse this time of year?"

He didn't answer her question, saying instead, "We need to talk."

"In a minute." She peeled off his soaking socks and covered him with a blanket.

"I didn't come here to be babied." Spencer objected, trying to take the blanket off.

"Won't do you any good to talk with your teeth chattering like that. Now sit still and I'll get cocoa."

Recognizing the determination in her voice, he sat back. It'd do no good to argue about it, and cocoa did sound wonderful.

"With marshmallows, just how you like it." Leah said, coming back in a couple minutes later. She chuckled softly. Spencer was sound asleep.

She turned the light off, turned a table lamp on, sat in the loveseat opposite the recliner, and drank her cocoa, watching him. When she had finished it and Spencer still hadn't woken up, she drank his too. She went to the kitchen and washed the mugs, then turned the lamp off, got ready for bed, and went bed.

The curtain of Leah's hair was brushed out of her face the next morning, and, getting a face full of sunlight, she woke up. She flipped the rest of her hair out of her eyes and jumped a mile in the air. Someone was sitting in a chair by her bed, watching her.

"Good morning." He said.

Realizing that due to her leap, the covers had come off; she clutched them to her up to chin. "Spencer!" She swore at him. "How long have you been there?"

It was quite unsettling to wake up to his face, seeing as it was his that had permeated her dreams all night.

He checked his watch. "Five minutes? Seven?"

"What!"

He shrugged, as if he watched women sleep all the time. "You're really pretty when you sleep, do you know that? Peaceful."

She swore at him again. "Get out of my room!" She screeched. "Get! Out!" His eyes widened in horror and when he closed the door behind him she yelled at him, "I should report you to Hotch!" She huffed in disgust and got ready for the day.

When she came into the kitchen, Spencer was still there. Cooking. And it smelled divine, the little hellion. "I have bacon and waffles, your favorite." He said, placing two plates on the table.

"Who told you you could eat with me?" Leah asked, crossing her arms.

"Please?"

"Fine." She drug a chair away from the table and plopped down into it, savagely tearing a piece of bacon with her teeth.

"I didn't mean to freak you out. I didn't know it would. I'm sorry. Honest. And I didn't do anything, I swear. It's just, I came in to wake you up, and, I guess, I'd never seen you like that. At peace. Really and truly relaxed. Innocent. You were just so beautiful. You are."

She looked at him, confused.

"Beautiful. You know that, right?"

Leah shrugged, not liking the personal level this was heading to, so she said the first thing that came to mind. "Do you know you're the only person I've ever kissed?"

She could've kicked herself.  _Good going, genius._

"You mean since Kensington?"

Leah was startled. "No. You, uh, didn't let him get that far."

Spencer smiled at his waffles, mercifully changing the subject. "You're especially pretty if you don't let that straightening thing touch your hair. I like it better curly, like it is now."

She hadn't taken the time to straighten her hair, and one part of her wanted to tear back to the bathroom and do so, the other part, the part that had given him that third kiss last night, wanted to the throw the straightener away and never use it again. "Spencer, if your foot goes any further in your mouth you're going to start digesting it."

"Point taken." He picked up his plate and put it in the dishwasher, then downed his mug of coffee.  _He made coffee too?_

Leah did the same. "Hey, did you change clothes?" she asked him as they both left for the Bureau.

"Yeah. I took the spare key and used it to get back in."

"Spencer! You better have put it back."

"I did. Hey, can I ride with you?"

"Why?"

"Car pooling, it's not like anyone's going to get suspicious. It's good for the environment and stuff."

"Who cares if they're suspicious? We did nothing, well I did nothing."

"I was just watching!"

"And that's creepy!"

"Hey, guys." Greenaway walked toward them from the other elevator as they reached the ground floor.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Leah asked.

"I have an apartment here."

"Cool. So do we. Hey, we're car pooling, do you want to ride with us?" She ignored Spencer's scathing glare.

"Sure. Continue talking. Please, don't let me interrupt. What did you guys do last night?"

Leah looked at Spencer and said in Russian, " _If she finds out_ -"

" _She'll eat us alive_."

"Did anybody get caught in Garcia's mistletoe?" Greenaway asked.

"Pretty much everybody. Garcia and Kevin, JJ and her boyfriend." Leah answered.

"You're holding back." Greenaway accused, sliding into shotgun in Leah's car.

"And Hotch and Prentiss." Spencer supplied as they drove away.

"You or your mother?" Greenaway asked.

"Mom."

Greenaway laughed. "So, what was Spencer watching that was creepy?"

"Huh?" Leah asked.

"Before you saw me, he said he was just watching, and you said it was creepy."

"I think this is the point in the interrogation where I demand a lawyer." Leah tried to laugh.

"Was he in your apartment overnight?"

Spencer made a noise that sounded like a squeak from the back of the car. Greenaway laughed. "That's enough evidence for me."

Leah parked and they all got out. "Not in the way your thinking."

"That's what they all say." Greenaway hurried a pace ahead of them.

"We did nothing!" Spencer declared. "Where were you during that point in the conversation?" Greenaway's laughter floated back over the snow-dusted parking lot.

"Great." Leah growled. She rubbed her arms, wishing two things: that she'd thought to grab a jacket and that she didn't have to go into the office.

"Here." Spencer took his suit that he had worn last night during and after the party from his messenger bag and placed around her shoulders.

"Are you crazy?"

"That was your fault as much as it was mine. You asked her to ride with us."

"So it would look less suspicious!"

"That worked, huh?"

Leah brushed her hands down her face. "Let's just go see how quickly she can spread this."

Spencer rubbed the back of his neck, and placed his hand on the small of her back.

As they entered the office, Leah saw JJ and Will coming in together, since he was a security guard there. They had their heads bent together, laughing at something, and his arm was around JJ's waist. JJ was wearing Will's police jacket. They looked up at her and Spencer just then, and Leah reflexively shed Spencer suit, leaving it in a pile on the floor, and hurried into the lair, praying she could get to Garcia before Greenaway tried to.


	18. Chapter 18

Spencer glared at his suit for a moment before picking it up and putting it back on. It smelled like snow. And the subtlest hint of vanilla, telling on the fact that he had spent the night at Leah's, innocent though it had been. JJ was biting her lip to keep from laughing. Will was giving him a sympathetic look and he looked like he wanted to say something.

Spencer's glare changed his mind. Will headed to clock in for his shift. JJ and Spencer headed silently to the bullpen.

If he lived to be 101, Spencer would never understand women.


	19. Chapter 19

Leah skidded to a stop in the lair. No sign of Greenaway. "Have you seen Greenaway?" she asked Garcia.

"You just missed her."

"Where was she headed?"

"CAC."

"Did she say anything to you?"

"'Hi and bye', in that order."

Leah relaxed. "Nothing in between?"

"No."

"Okay." Leah flopped down in her chair, in front of over half a dozen computers.


	20. Chapter 20

Spencer shed his suit leaving it in a dejected pile on the floor. He couldn't stand having that scent hanging around him all day, not and look Prentiss in the eye, anyway.


	21. Chapter 21

"I've decided you're presenting the case whenever we get one," Garcia informed Leah. "And from here on out, hopefully. Seeing all that gore is messing with my stomach more than usual. You know what? Tell JJ to gauge your ability and whatever. I and my big box of chocolates will stay right here."

Leah laughed. "Fine."

She sat forward in her chair and did a few random pieces of paperwork, then headed for the bullpen.


	22. Chapter 22

"Don't leave your stuff on the floor." Prentiss reprimanded later, picking Spence's suit up. JJ smiled from the other side of the bullpen where she was getting coffee. Wasn't the mothering her job? She watched as Spence's eyes widened.

"O-Okay." He stammered. He grabbed the suit from Prentiss and shoved in into his messenger bag.

JJ scrunched her eyebrows together. What was with the suit that he didn't want Prentiss to know?

"Hey guys." Leah greeted, coming from the direction of the lair. JJ watched, smiling, as she went over and placed a kiss on Prentiss's cheek.

They looked remarkably alike, mother and daughter. It had been nice to watch them bond, though they weren't exactly close yet.

"Since you don't have a case, what can we do for you?" JJ asked, coming over.

"How do you know I don't have a case?"

"No files, frown, or flurry of energy in getting to Hotch."

Leah nodded. "Is Jack still here? I saw him as I came in."

"Yeah." Emily pointed towards Hotchner's office.

"Do you think I could take him outside to play in the snow? I didn't have much to do today, and with reading faster than Spencer, I got it done pretty quickly."

"For your information," Spence came over. "I'm finished, too." He looked over at Morgan and said loudly, "It's amazing how quickly I get done, when no one adds to my pile."

Morgan grinned up at him. JJ laughed. She didn't know why Spence was targeting Morgan, they all added to his pile occasionally, and he knew it.

"Anyway," Spence was saying. "I'll come with you and Jack. If that's okay?" He finished uncertainly.

Leah nodded, giving him permission, and they both started for Hotchner's office.

"What's with those two?" JJ asked Prentiss.

She shrugged, "I have no idea." And went back to her desk.

A couple minutes later, Spence, Leah, and Jack all headed for the outdoors. Leah stopped. "Hey, Mom, can I borrow your coat? I forgot mine."

"Sure. Take this stuff, too." Prentiss threw Leah a coat, scarf, hat, and gloves.

"Thanks." Leah caught it all and started putting it on, protesting and causing him to back off when Spence tried to assist.

Something was definitely up between the two of them.

When JJ was sure they had left and no one was watching, she hurried over and grabbed Spence's suit out of his messenger bag. It looked normal. It felt normal. She held a sleeve under her nose. Her eyes widened. Vanilla. The same scent as the candles in Leah's house that she had burnt during the party.

JJ shoved the suit back in the messenger bag and went to her office. That suit had been in Leah's apartment way more than the two hours that Spence had been at the party. He had to have come back after everyone else had left.

Oh, this was interesting. JJ laughed out loud and went back to her files. Very interesting.


	23. Chapter 23

"Penelope's coming!" Leah warned.

"Hide!" Jack, the self-appointed leader, ordered.

Leah obligingly flattened herself against the side of fort that she and Spencer were making and Spencer did the same. Copying Jack, they both picked up pieces of snow, forming them into balls. No need to be idle.

"Should we get her?" Jack asked.

"No." Spencer said. "She's going to bring Henry back here, and then we can get them on our side before everybody else comes."

Leah nodded and popped up to see where Penelope was. "She's gone now."

She and Spencer went back to building the fort, and Jack kept making snowballs.

Forty-five minutes later Penelope reappeared with Henry, and Jack called out, "Henry! Aunt Penelope! Come here!"

Both complied.

"Do you wanna help? We're making a fort and snowballs and when everybody comes out after work, we're gonna pound 'em." The excited six year old explained.

Henry nodded vigorously and dropped to his knees in the snow, where Jack told him to help make snowballs.

"Sorry, sugarplum, I'll pass. But I tell you what. You guys look cold. I'll bring out cocoa and coffee."

"Don't tell anybody!" Jack hollered as Penelope went inside. She turned around and gave him two thumbs up before continuing inside. She later returned as promised with a thermos of coffee for Spencer and Leah and one of cocoa for the boys.

"And look." She emptied her pockets of gloves, none of them matching. "Now if they try to make snowballs, their hands won't be so protected and they'll give up easier."

"Cool!" Jack said. "You're the best, Aunt Penelope!"

"Maybe you can exchange them for a hostage." Penelope suggested.

"How'd you think of that?" Reid asked, adding a block to the fort.

"You don't play internet games all day without learning something."

"I thought you worked here." Three year old Henry stated.

"That too." Penelope chuckled, going back inside. She said over her shoulder, "Know that I will be filming this battle. And Youtube, Facebook, and I are very good friends. Make me proud."

 


	24. Chapter 24

A half an hour later, Henry, whom Jack had placed on lookout duty a few minutes ago, said gleefully, "Here they come!"

"Wait until they get a little closer." Spencer urged. "When we can hear them talking, Jack, tell us to throw. Make sure you throw hard."

"Even Mommy and Daddy?" Henry asked Jack, a bright glint in his eyes.

Jack leaned closer, his tone full of conspiracy. "Especially our parents."

Henry's smile spread as he grabbed a snowball in each hand, one to throw at Daddy, another for Mommy. He waited until he could hear them talking, they were talking about the missing mittens, waited until Jack yelled now, and he threw them as hard as he could.


	25. Chapter 25

"Now!" Hotch heard Jack scream.

A millisecond later a snowball hit him on arm. Behind him JJ yelped as one hit her in the ankle. A third landed directly on Emily's cheek, and she screeched as the snow ran down it. A fourth hit Morgan squarely in the chest, and Hotch swore he heard Reid yell "Bull's-eye!" Will looked down as a fifth landed at his feet harmlessly.

"Run!" Hotch yelled. "The trees!"

He, Morgan, JJ, Emily and Will all ran for the strand of a few trees. Garcia and Rossi hung back, sitting on a bench out of harm's way.

JJ laughed. "Who wants to bet they stole our gloves?"

"There's five of us and four of them. This shouldn't take long." Emily reasoned.

"They've been out here all afternoon." Morgan said, glancing around the trees to access the situation. "They have a sturdy fort, and our gloves, not to mention a monster arsenal of snowballs." Morgan was hit in the face with a snowball. Brushing the snow away he added, "And at least one has great aim."

"So? What difference do gloves make?" Hotch asked. "Fight back!" He grabbed a pile of snow, shaped it, and hurled it at them. The others followed suit.

Morgan and Hotch, who were at the ends, leaned around the trees to throw and both got hit. The others threw through breaks between the trees.

Ducking back behind the trees, Morgan swore. "They're good."

"Did you notice how all the balls you got hit with curved to the left?" Emily asked Morgan. "They were thrown by a right handed person. That wouldn't be Leah Their hitting high enough on you that Jack couldn't do it. It has to be Reid."

"What's your point?" Hotch asked.

"Whenever I was hit it was from a left-handed person. That would have been Leah. I think they have assigned people to aim for."

"So they're organized," Will said. "What's that mean?"

"Figure out who's aiming for you," Hotch commanded. "Try and pick a fight, it'll get their focus off. Whoever's throwing at me isn't as strong and doesn't have such trained aim. Jack. Reid is aiming for at least Morgan."

"Henry is aiming for just me and Will." JJ concluded. "As much as I love him, he can't pitch. But we're still getting hit."

"We have two people aiming for us!" Will realized.

JJ nodded, saying, "You aim for Reid. I'll take Leah."

Hotch made a half a dozen snowballs and threw them rapid-fire at Jack. They all hit Reid or Leah instead. He heard them both scream and pumped his fist triumphantly.

"Reid! Prentiss!" Jack was saying. "Focus!"

Hotch laughed, feeling proud of his son as Reid said, "Don't know where I've heard that before."

"That's it!" Jack yelled. "You mess with my team, you mess with me! It's on, Hotchner!"

Hotch laughed and threw a snowball at Jack's stomach in response. He was rewarded with a hail of snowballs on him.

Jack would make a good leader one day.

Meanwhile Morgan, Emily, and JJ were getting creamed. "Reid!" Jack huffed. "Will, too, remember? Aim for their faces!"

"Meany." Emily muttered from beside Hotch.

"Hotch how are we supposed to hit them?" Will asked. "They just cut holes in the fort to look and throw the balls through."

"They've been out here for hours. We just have to wait them out."

Twenty minutes of flying snow later, Rossi left as Jack called out, "Halt! We have a man down! Time!"

Hotch peered warily around the trees. "What's going on?"

"Henry says he's too cold. He wants to go inside."

"Honest?"

"Yes."

Hotch looked at JJ. She and Will were standing up, brushing snow off their clothes.

"Where are you going?" Morgan asked.

"If Henry's done, we're going home." Will said.

"Enough snow for me for one day, thanks." JJ said.

"Traitors!" Morgan and Emily screamed.

"Jack, can we come get him now?" JJ asked.

"Only one of you." Jack called back. "I don't want any funny business."

"No funny business." JJ promised, heading to the fort. She picked up Henry and her and Will's gloves and left with her boyfriend and son.

"It's one on one now." Jack crowed.

"And it's gonna hurt!" Leah promised.

"Oh boy." Emily said, beside him.

Leah cackled and Reid let out an exaggerated stage laugh. "Wha, ha, ha!"

"Flee or fight?" Morgan asked Hotch.

"There's no way we can hit them, not with their holey fort." Emily groaned.

Hotch huffed and called out. "All right, we give up, you win!"

"Yes!" Jack shouted. All three of the enemy simultaneously jumped up, high-fiving each other.

Hotch looked over at Emily, who was smiling widely as she watched Leah ruffle Jack's hair, telling him what a good idea the snowball fight had been.

"You ought to smile more." Emily told him.

He hadn't realized he had been smiling. "It's the effect my family has on me I guess. When we're not surrounded my serial killers."

Emily kissed him on the cheek and he told Jack to get ready to go.


	26. Chapter 26

Within five minutes, Morgan, Emily, Garcia and the Hotchner duo had all left after reclaiming their gloves. That left Spencer alone in the parking lot again with Leah, not that he was complaining.

"I think we wounded Morgan's ego." Spencer observed, downing the last of the cocoa.

"Should we make a Morgan snowman for him to ease his pain?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

"Hey, listen." Leah said.

Spencer tipped his head to the side. He heard sleigh bells.

"Sleigh bells ring, are you listening," Leah sang as she began to roll a snowball for the snowman's body. "In the lane, snow is glistening A beautiful sight, We're happy tonight. Walking in a winter wonderland. Gone away is the bluebird, Here to stay is a new bird He sings a love song, As we go along, Walking in a winter wonderland."

"In the meadow we can build a snowman," Reid joined her in singing as he formed a head. "Then pretend that he is-"

"Pastor Down!" Leah sung gleefully.

Spencer laughed. "He'll say: are you married? We'll say: No, man, But you can do the job When you're in town."

"Ah!" Leah squealed. "It's getting away!"

Indeed, the body of the snowman was rolling away down the hill. Both of them shot after it. Leah made a lunge for it, but slipped. Spencer tried to grab her arm, but he fell to. They were rolling down the hill now, too, tumbling over each other. Suddenly they stopped. He was directly on top of Leah.

He watched as her eyes widened, her breathing became more ragged. He knew she felt the most vulnerable in this position; the one Kensington had forced her into. He wanted to kiss her, badly, he realized.  _Not a good idea, Doc._ He stood up, swallowed, and helped her to her feet.

She smiled at him, wordlessly begging him to let it pass. He smiled back, and started to roll the snowman body back up the hill.

Later, once they got back to the apartment building, Leah asked Spencer, "Do you want to come over for supper? I have enough leftovers to feed a small army."

"Sure."

Leah smiled, linked arms with him, something they'd made a habit of doing during Leah's' college years, and they got in the elevator together.

Later that evening, Spencer took the cocoa Leah handed him and followed her into the living room. She curled up on one end of the couch, so he sat on the other. Leah reached into a remote holder on the edge of the couch, and pulled out a remote that she used to turn the fireplace on.

"You remembered marshmallows." Spencer said, taking a drink of his cocoa.

Leah laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing." She shook her head, merriment glinting in her eyes. And firelight. Geez, she was beautiful.

"Thanks." She said.

"I said that out loud?"

Leah nodded, suddenly looking shy. "So, um, how's your mom?"

"Fine, I guess."

Leah started to hum, then sang, "Later on…"

Spencer laughed and joined in. "We'll conspire, As we dream by the fire To face unafraid, The plans that we've made, Walking in a Winter Wonderland."

She was fingering her bracelet.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asked. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No. No, I'm fine."

"What is it?" He moved closer and took her hand in his.

"It's just," She paused, gathering her thoughts. "I'm scared. It's all happened so fast. Finding Mom, the move, the job at the Bureau. I feel like I just need to take a step back, to catch my breath. Is that crazy?"

Compassion flooded him, and, for that time, he saw the uncertain young woman she had been at Yale. "Not at all. When I was recruited for the Bureau, my life changed almost in an instant. I moved, started almost completely over. I felt the same way then. You're not crazy."

"Grazie, Spencer. I mean, thanks."

"You're homesick."

"A little. Is that selfish?"

"Non." He murmured, speaking Italian. " _It's normal. You moved halfway across the world, got forced into a job you don't even know if you want, and found out your mom was dating._ "

" _I didn't say a word about Hotch. How'd you know?_ "

" _The only relationships you know with men are abusive. That's bound to have entered your mind."_

" _You weren't abusive."_

" _And you told me point blank that I was the only man who hadn't tried to hurt you."_

" _He scares me. I'm scared for Mom, I guess."_

" _Give him a chance, get to know him. You were around Jack all day today, did he seem abused or afraid of Hotch in any way?"_

" _No."_

" _Well, there you go. I swear, give him a chance and you'll wonder how you could've ever thought that he could hurt her."_

Leah nodded.

" _Promise you will?"_  Spencer asked.

" _I promise."_


	27. Chapter 27

"Hey, Hotch?"

Hotch looked up from a stack of never-ending paperwork the next morning to see Reid standing in the doorway. "Yes?"

"I have this gift card," Reid started. "For that new Mexican restaurant in town?"

"I know the place."

"It's for three, and it, uh, expires tonight. I was thinking you could take Prentiss and Leah. If you wanted to, I mean."

"Shut the door." Hotch answered. Reid complied and stood shifting from one foot to the other, uncomfortable. "What's going on?"

"I, uh. Um. Well, I, uh, think it would be a good idea, that's all."

"Have either one of them said something to you that I should know about?"

Reid sighed. "Leah's having a hard time adjusting."

"Then take her out yourself."

"I could, but I think she needs more friends. She and Prentiss really haven't had much time together, and I thought she might like to get to know you, too."

"All right. Thank you."

Reid nodded and handed Hotch the gift card, a small smile on his face. He turned to leave.

"Reid?"

The genius turned back around, looking at him expectantly.

"This doesn't expire for two more weeks. You bought this earlier this morning."

"You have a younger sibling right?"

Hotch nodded.

"Leah needs it more than I do."

So saying, Reid walked out of his office.

Hotch shook his head at the card. Sister his eye.

After work, Hotch asked Emily if he could take her to dinner, and, after receiving a happy nod from her, walked to the lair.

"If you're looking for Garcia, she all ready left." Leah said, gathering up her things.

"Actually I wanted to ask you something."

"What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go to Rio de Amigos with Emily and me."

Leah fingered her bracelet for a second before saying, "Sure."

"Good. Would you like me to help you with your bag?" He looked at her messenger bag.

"I've got it, thanks though."

They both left the lair. "Do mind me asking what you and Reid carry in those things? I've wondered before why he needed so much space."

"As for Spencer, I have no idea. Personally, I carry a pocket dictionary, as well as a couple of notebooks, a sketchpad, a packet of colored pencils, and some pens."

"You're artistic?" That surprised Hotch, as Reid was very factual.

"Sort of. I'm a fiction author. Semi-fiction anyway."

"You right stories?"

Leah nodded. "But you can't tell Spencer."

"Why not?"

"He always thought I should usher in a new age of technology or something."

"You were and English professor in Rome, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but writing's sort of my passion. It's what I'm good at. And it does a little over just paying the bills."

"You've made money off of it."

"Good money."

"Good for you. Your mother would be proud of you. If you told her."

"I'll tell everybody at some point." Leah promised. "I think Rossi may be on to me, anyway.

They'd reached the bullpen, so they stopped talking about it.

"Are you ready?" Hotch asked Emily.

She nodded and Hotch headed to the door with her, Leah a step behind them. Leah looked back over her shoulder toward Reid. He grinned and waved her forward.

"Reid?" Hotch said, turning around.

Reid raised his eyebrows.

"Don't ever try that sibling trash on me again."

"What?" Leah asked innocently.

"It's nothing." Reid promised. "Nothing at all."

"Appetizers, amigos." The waiter said at the restaurant, dropping a basket of chips and bottle of salsa on the table. "Cheese sauce for an extra dollar?"

Emily shrugged, she didn't care. Leah looked tempted. "I've got a gift card and a daughter to impress, why not?" He heard himself say.

"Si, I'll bring it right over."

Emily squeezed his hand under the table. He leaned over and kissed her lightly, aware that Leah was watching his every move with the eyes of a profiler, badge or none. Leah was smiling at them.

Emily inquired something of her in Italian, (passing a test?) and she laughed when her daughter's eyes widened in surprise.


	28. Chapter 28

"Leah," Emily took Leah's hand in the one not claimed by Aaron and said in Italian, "You've not put trust in many people. Those you trust, you protect."

"If I wasn't so new to this trusting thing, it wouldn't be so obvious. During college was the first time I ever let my guard down enough."

The fact that she said that in English startled Emily. Leah was giving Aaron a real chance.

"Well now you have two more people to trust." Emily squeezed her daughter's hand before letting go and popping a chip into her mouth.

 


	29. Chapter 29

Hotch was lost in thought thinking about the girl genius, trying to decide what he thought about her, really, when he heard Leah say, "So I guess I have to trust you, too."

Both women were looking at him.

"Since I told you about my books." Leah clarified.

"I really think you should just tell Reid. If he really cares, he'll just want you to be happy." Hotch told her.

"You really think so?"

Hotch thought about his younger brother, Sean, who had opted to become a NYC chef instead of a D.C. lawyer. "I know so."

"Thanks, Hotch." She grinned at him.

Their waiter placed the sauce on the table, saying, "For the impressing of your beautiful wife and daughter."

Leah's jaw dropped, but Hotch only smiled and thanked the waiter, not caring to correct him.


	30. Chapter 30

The next morning, Leah gave Will the coffee she had bought for him and headed for the lair.

"Hi." Garcia greeted Leah the next morning making a 180 degree swivel in her chair to drop a file onto the tray of coffees in Leah's hands. "Are one of those for me?"

Leah gave Garcia her coffee with a smile as the other tech wiz said, "Thanks, Gumdrop. That file would be the first case you'll present. Get Hotch and JJ, in that order, before everybody else. Video monstrosities are all ready on the computer. Plug it up after getting the team. You know how to work a projector? Of course you do. Bye, now."

"Your wish is my command." Leah shed her purse and coat, picked back up the coffee and file, and headed for Hotchner's office.

"And that's why I love you, Girl Genius." Garcia said.

Leah read the whole file on the way to her boss's office. She knocked on the open door. "We have a case."

"Is Garcia watching you?"

"JJ." Leah walked toward said person's office with Hotch behind her.

"Does she know that?"

"I told her yesterday. Case, JJ."

They grabbed Rossi from his office and the four of them headed down the stairs.

"We have a case, guys." Leah said, going through the aisle between the other agents' desks. They all jumped up and followed her. She felt a little like the Pied Piper.

As they settled around the table in the briefing room, Leah went around it, giving them each a Styrofoam cup of coffee. "For you, Warbucks." She said to Rossi. Emily was just Mom. Spencer was "Smart One". She called JJ "Bee", and Morgan "Quarterback". Hotchner's eyes widened into saucers with surprised pleasure when she called him "Dad". She looked away, hoping she hadn't just made a mistake. She saw Spencer smile out of the corner of her eye.

"Thank you." Hotch said, holding up the coffee, but meaning something entirely different.

"How come I'm a bug?" JJ asked.

"Bees are actually insects, but I was referring to the fact that you were one of the mean girls in school." Leah explained.

Spencer laughed and warmth shot through Leah. She like making him laugh.

"I've said the same thing before." Reid revealed.

"So why didn't Emily get a name?" JJ asked, trying to deflect attention.

"I prefer 'Mom' by a long shot." Emily said.

"I bet." JJ smiled, as did Hotch.

Leah cleared her throat and, having the team's collected attention, she explained the case, calmly, carefully, and efficiently. She was given JJ's approval and the team flew for New York City.

Leah was left praying for a quick case as she headed for the lair.


	31. Chapter 31

The team was at the latest crime scene when Spencer dug out his cellphone and called Leah. It had become the team's habit to let him do the talking, probably so they could profile if he and Leah had made anything out of the mistletoe kiss.

"Speak, master of mistletoe."

Spencer was a little startled that she had even mentioned the kiss. It was the first time she had done so.

The team members around him smiled at him when he said, "Baby Girl, I need a list of ballet students that had an accident ending their career."

"For NYC?" Leah ignored the laughter of Morgan, which Spencer knew she could hear.

"We must have some great chemistry for you to read my mind."

"Don't get too excited, gorgeous." She drawled. "On it. Superior genius out."

"Superior!"

Leah laughed at his fained outrage.

"Don't kid yourself," He continued. "but I love you anyway."

"You do?" She wasn't laughing anymore.

"Always. I've got to get back to work. Thank you, darlin'." He hung up and Morgan clapped him on the shoulder.

"I might just have to be proud of you, Pretty Boy." The older agent grinned.

"I'm not good at this." Spencer confided.

Morgan turned back to the bodies, laughing. Spencer looked down at his phone. "Just you wait until New Year's Eve." He muttered to the phone, a daring, wonderful idea coming to, and taking root in, his mind.


	32. Chapter 32

Leah was nervous. Strauss had called her into her office. As Leah made her way there, her mind, and bracelet, was going a mile a minute. She knocked on Strauss's office door.

"Come in."

Leah opened the door and entered the office, keeping as firm poker-face employed.

"Shut the door and take a seat."

Leah complied, wondering if this was what it felt like to be called to the principal's office.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Dr. Prentiss." The director didn't look like she had it out for her.

"And you."

"First of all, I'd like you to know that you've received glowing reports about you from all the members of Agent Hotchner's team, especially from Dr. Reid. There are a few pressing matters we need to discuss. The Bureau has hired a Mr. Caleb Curtis as a technical analyst. You are going to introduce him to the team. Make sure he is integrated and acclimates well. He'll start tomorrow under Mr. Lynch's direction.

Secondly, word in the Bureau is that you are in a relationship with Dr. Reid. Is this true?"

"No, ma'am." Not technically a lie. "He's an old friend from college."

"I see. Though if it were true, you know that it is not to be public knowledge. Unless, and this leads us to point number three, you were to become a media liaison, a position for which Agent Jareau has recommended you." Strauss cocked her head to the side, contemplating Leah. "She's quite adamant that you are the only one for the job. It's with Agent Hotchner's team. Take this file. It has more specifics concerning the job in it."

"Thank you, ma'am, but that won't be necessary. I'd like the job if it's being offered."

"All right then. Mr. Curtis will take over the positions you were to fill and you will start as liaison on the New Year. Any questions?"

"No, ma'am."

"Then I suppose that's all. And, just an observation, I don't personally think I've ever met anyone better suited for Dr. Reid."

Leah blinked. She hadn't seen that coming, but she did think she saw a smile quirk at the edges of the director's mouth.

"That will be all, Doctor.

Leah nodded and left the office, her thoughts awhirl. She fled back to the lair and called JJ.


	33. Chapter 33

JJ picked up her cell. She and Spence were on their way to interview a family. She smiled. Leah was calling.

"Yes?"

"You are my new best friend. Is Spencer with you?"

"It's just the three of us."

"Put me on speaker."

She complied. "So Strauss talked to you?" JJ asked.

"You bet she did. You have a trainee when you return."

"What?" Spence asked.

JJ and Leah took turns in explaining the situation.

"That's great." Spence said. "We're at the house. Bye."


	34. Chapter 34

"See you soon, Eros."

Spencer laughed and JJ ended the call. Eros was the Greek god of love.

JJ gave him a knowing look as he climbed out of the car. He blushed, dipping his head, a habit he had adopted when his hair was long enough to hide his face. Something Leah had taught him over a decade ago, he realized. He shoved his hands in his pockets and hurried up the walk after JJ.


	35. Chapter 35

JJ fished her cellphone out of her purse as she and the rest of the team walked through the hotel parking lot, coming back from supper. She found her phone on the second ring. Will.

Some second sense made her stop walking. Rossi and Morgan, ahead of her, didn't notice. Emily and Hotch were immersed in their conversation, thus walked right by. It was Spence, who had actually become her official partner since she became a true profiler, who stopped and inquired if everything was all right.

"Yeah. It's Will, so I'll probably be a while."

Spence's eyebrows drew together. She always called Will, not vice versa, and he knew that. However, he respected her privacy enough to shrug and walk off, digging out his own cell, probably to call Leah.

JJ answered the phone. "Will, what's wrong? Is Henry sick?"

"No, JJ, he's fine. Up in bed asleep. It's us. JJ, this isn't working anymore."

"Will-" She'd known things were getting bad, but, profiler or no, she hadn't seen this coming. Not yet, and certainly not over the phone.

"No, don't. I've asked Mrs. Tupper to stay with Henry until you get back. I quit my job today. I'm moving back to New Orleans. I'll be gone by the time you get back."

"So quickly?"

"I think a clean break would be best for Henry. For all of us."

"Fine." JJ had had her own reserves about their relationship from the beginning, and that made it easier to keep her pride intact, at least in her voice. "What about Henry, custody?"

"Keep him, he's always been a momma's boy, anyway. Being raised by a single cop in New Orleans ain't the best way to grow up anyhow. I should know. I've explained everything to Henry."

"Fine." That was really all she could think to say.

"Goodbye, JJ." Will said.

She knew he meant for more than a night.

"Bye."

She closed her phone, dropped it into her purse, and walked at a fast clip into the hotel, managing to keep herself together until she was inside the room she shared with Emily. There, she dropped onto the bed nearest the door and began crying. First, only a few tears, but it quickly escalated. When Emily emerged from the bathroom, JJ was outright sobbing.

Neither of them said a word, and JJ absently wondered if Spence had told Emily about Will's call. Emily came over and wrapped JJ in her arms, murmuring motherly reassurances into her hair as JJ curled into the older woman's arms.

"It's over. Will left me."


	36. Chapter 36

The thirty-first found the team in the jet heading back to Virginia. Hotch grabbed the shopping bag full of books that he had bought after dinner with Emily and Leah and set them loudly down on the table JJ and Rossi were sitting at.

"Okay, what are the books for?" JJ asked.

"Each of us is going to read t least part of one on the way back." He informed the other agents.

"Any particular reason?" Morgan asked as Hotch handed JJ an adventure story and Rossi a mystery.

"Do it as a personal favor." He gave Morgan another mystery.

Hotch gave Emily one of those warm and fuzzy novels. She slid over and he sat beside her, giving Reid a mystery before settling in with one of his own.


	37. Chapter 37

Rossi scanned the book he held and the information about the author before shooting his Unit Chief a suspicious glance. He didn't notice. Hotch was too engrossed in his book.

A couple minutes later, Reid murmured, "Marietta Esposito. Interesting name."

"You're finished?" Rossi asked.

Reid almost looked upset, but Rossi wasn't sure. The kid had a great poker face, born of his experiences. Growing up in Vegas couldn't hurt either.

Reid nodded, asking Hotch. "Are all the books by the same author?"

Hotch nodded. "What's interesting about the name?"

"It's a pseudonym, right?" Reid asked.


	38. Chapter 38

"Yes. I guess." Hotch was afraid he might give away Leah's secret if he wasn't careful. "So?"

"Well, in the past, Esposito was a surname given to children who were abandoned in covenants or orphanages in Italy. Literally interpreted it means 'exposed'. Marietta, on the other hand, means a bitterly wanted child. A bitterly wanted child who was abandoned. That doesn't make sense."


	39. Chapter 39

"It makes sense." Emily murmured.

She was scanning a book she held, "Complicated." It was about a twelve year old ballerina and her estranged mother. Set in Rome, it bore a startling resemblance to a ballet Emily had once flown all the way to Rome to see when she heard that a "Leah Prentiss" had a lead in it. Emily had never really kept tabs on her daughter; she'd always assumed Leah had become a nun in the covenant where Emily had left her to be raised. Someone had mentioned the ballet to her, and she'd gone on a whim, having no idea that it would be the only time she would see her daughter before adulthood. Emily treasured that day above all others.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Aaron asked.

"I'm glad she has parents."

"Parents like you." He replied.

Emily shook her head. "Like you."

Leah's face popped up on the video screen. "Hi, all. Hey," She looked at Emily. "What's wrong? I thought agents didn't cry."

She hadn't even realized that tears had gathered in her eyes. "Agents don't." Emily held up the book. "Mother's do."

"Oh." Leah breathed.

"I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you, too. Where'd you get it?"

"Aaron."

"Thank you, Daddy."

Emily watched a smile blossom on Aaron's face. She knew of only two people who could make him smile so easily, besides Leah. Jack and herself

"You're welcome. Reid is already on his second." Aaron replied.


	40. Chapter 40

Leah beamed. "What are you reading, G-man?"

"'Higher Ground'. I've all ready read 'High Tides'."

Leah felt her heart hit her throat. "High Tides" was based off of Kensington's attack. "Higher Ground" was the sequel to it. Of all the books he could have read, those were the last ones she wanted him to get a hold of.

He set the book down, apparently finished with it as well, and looked at her. "What can I do for you, sweetness?"

"I, uh, was-"

"Prentiss?" The director had barged into the lair.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Have you told Agent Hotchner's team to meet me?"

"I'm doing it now." Leah answered.

The director left and Leah made a face, saying, "I guess that settles that. In case you need clarification, Strauss wants to meet with you all as soon as you land."

"Why?" Hotch asked.

Leah shrugged.

"We'll find out when we get there, I guess." JJ said.


	41. Chapter 41

Spencer followed most of the team to Strauss's office. JJ was dragging behind him. Something was off with her. It had started during the case, but she had, and still, refused to talk about it. He wouldn't push her. He'd learn that she would talk in her own time.

Hotch opened the door to Strauss's office and went in. Morgan held it open for the rest of them and entered last, shutting the door behind him at Strauss's cool request. JJ sat in the only other chair at the desk, and the others formed a semi-circle around her.

"I'll get straight to the point," Strauss said in her usual business-like tone. "The Bureau has hired a Caleb Curtis as a tech analyst for CAC, since Leah has accepted the liaison position."

Leah squeezed Spencer's hand behind the chair-back. He bit his lip to keep from smiling at her daring. It seemed Strauss had taken a rather mysterious shine to Leah.

"He will be taking over all the positions Dr. Prentiss would have filled. Secondly, there has been a change in policy which I would like you to know about. Though it affects some of you more than others, I wouldn't want any of you to feel obliged to report any of your teammates uselessly." She smiled ruefully. They all knew they'd never report each other, useful or not. Hotchner's team was a family, really, and they were fiercely loyal to each other. "The fraternization rules as a whole have been done away with. Somehow, you all are more careful when you have a significant other nearby."

Emily's eyes were huge. Hotchner's eyebrows had reached amazing heights. Leah was smiling demurely, though her sparkling eyes acknowledged the comedy of their expressions.

"You're all dismissed." Strauss said.

They all filed out quietly. Once Strauss's office was well behind them all, Spencer took Leah's hand and they crowded into the elevator with the others.

Leah and Rossi started discussing the food the team was going to have at Leah's apartment, where their team and the CAC one was going to start a long night of New Year's Eve festivities. Leah had even invited Caleb Curtis, apparently. Morgan and Garcia were talking about what bar the teams were going to hit after the BAU party.

Spencer smiled to himself. He and Leah had big plans for the dance competition being held during the BAU party.

Brian Anderson had attended Yale the last year Leah had, and had thought it would be funny to invite her to the last college dance before she graduated, the first she ever attended, - and then show up with a different woman. That dance had been the equivalent of Leah's prom, and tonight she would get her revenge.

What Spencer was looking forward to the most was what came after it all, something only he knew about; giving Leah the second one-of-a-kind bracelet he had had made for her, this one much more recently.

He just hoped, prayed,  _needed_ , for her to agree to all that went with it.

2011 had changed them all, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, and he couldn't wait to see what 2012 brought for this strange, wonderful family.


End file.
